How Much Can I Make? — Real Jobs. Real People. Real Money.

Episode Title: Side Hustle to Digital Agency: How to Build a Profitable Online Business
Host: Mirav Ozeri
Guest: Matt Rad, Digital Business Coach
Date: January 12, 2026

Episode Overview

This episode explores how everyday people—regardless of their technical background—can build a profitable side hustle (or even a full-time business) by starting a digital agency building and maintaining websites for local businesses. Host Mirav Ozeri welcomes back Matt Rad, a digital entrepreneur and educator, who breaks down exactly how this pathway works, the skills required, real-world earning potential, and inspiring case studies.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Why Build a Digital Agency as a Side Hustle?

• Low risk, low cost: Setting up a basic digital agency doesn’t require capital or prior technical skills.
• Realistic earnings: Many see side incomes of $30,000–$70,000 per year, with several case studies of people replacing full-time incomes—sometimes in the six figures.
• No need to quit your job: You can start part-time and scale up.

  “We’re seeing them do anywhere from $30,000 to around $70,000 as a side income… per year.” — Matt Rad (00:03)

2. Getting Started: Learning by Doing

• Essential digital skills: Learning to build simple websites is foundational. Drag-and-drop tools and AI mean technical barriers are low (01:55).
• Immediate practice: Matt recommends building free websites for local tradespeople as a portfolio and learning exercise.
• Progression: Start free, then charge $500, then step up to $1,000–$3,000 per site once you gain confidence and referrals.

  “You can learn how to build a website in a weekend… [but] it’s not just good enough to build a web. You need to understand how they convert.” — Matt Rad (04:06)

3. Leveraging AI and Automation

• AI accelerates the process: Tools can now build a site in an hour, but you need to tweak and customize for results (06:02).
• Lead generation strategy: You can even rent out the website’s leads to service providers, earning $40 per incoming call.

  “We just built a website just the other day purely with AI… we had it up and running within about an hour.” — Matt Rad (06:02)

• Side hustle innovation: Sites built with AI can serve as automated, ongoing lead generators.

4. Case Studies: Real People, Real Results

• Derek & Courtney: Corporate professionals in Australia who replaced their salary within a year ($160K in year one; now hitting $50K/month).

  “Our best result ever is Derek and Courtney… they’d hit $160,000 and now they’re hitting, in their second year, $50,000 months.” — Matt Rad (08:33-09:29)

• Josh, the FIFO Worker: Balances a demanding mining job with web projects, now earning $5K/month on his time off, planning to go full-time (11:30–12:50).

• Jing, Stay-at-Home Mom: New to business and with limited English, she made $30K in her first year; now she and her husband run a thriving agency in Noosa.

  “In her first year she made $30,000… her husband was able to quit his job as an accountant and join her.” — Matt Rad (21:10)

• Alyssa, 19-Year-Old in Rural Australia: Left university for digital skills training, now earns $5K–$10K/month building sites for local professionals.

  “At the age of 19, she now has a full-time business doing this.” — Matt Rad (24:55)

5. Earnings Model: From One-Off Projects to Recurring Revenue

• Website build fees: $500–$3,000+ per project as skill increases.
• Ongoing maintenance & SEO: $50–$2,000+ per month per client in recurring revenue.
• Scaling potential: 10 clients at $200/month is a solid side income; experienced agencies can reach six or even seven-figure annual revenues (10:14–11:30).

6. Can You Sell a Digital Agency?

• Yes! Agencies with stable recurring revenue can be valued on a 3x multiple, making them million-dollar assets in 2–5 years (25:00–25:42).

  “Once you get to $30K/month… you’re sell[ing] that for a million bucks.” — Matt Rad (25:06)

7. What Skills and Personal Traits Do You Need?

• Empathy & communication: Listening to business owners and understanding their needs is key (16:45).
• Sales ability: More important than technical skills. “Learn to sell. Learn sales. It is the ultimate skill in this day and age of AI.” — Matt Rad (18:19)
• Persistence and willingness to learn: Beginners from all backgrounds—introverted, non-native speakers, those with no sales experience—have succeeded.

8. Suitability and Community

• Works in urban & rural markets: Demand for local, trusted partners is huge, and “community” is a selling point.
• Accessible global education: Training is entirely online, and Matt’s school serves both Australian and U.S. clients (22:17).

9. Modern Education & The Future of E-Learning

• Community-driven value: As AI makes information free, online education will shift towards coaching, live events, and peer support (28:27–30:49).
• Real people, real stories: “I want Matt to explain to me step by step. I want to hear the real story off Derek himself…” — Matt Rad (28:44)

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On Starting Small:
  “The easiest way to learn is literally just build a basic website and build it for free. For the next tradesperson that comes to your house, just say, hey, do you have a website?”
  — Matt Rad (07:06)

• On Recurring Revenue:
  “At the minimum you can charge $50 to $200 a month just for maintenance… you do the numbers, if you have ten clients at 200 bucks, it’s a good… side hustle.”
  — Matt Rad (10:09)

• On Who Can Succeed:
  “Her journey’s taken her about three or four years… but in her first year she knew nothing about sales, you know, English, not her first language, and yet she still managed to make 30 grand on the side whilst raising three kids.” — Matt Rad (21:10)

• On Selling Your Agency:
  “Once you get to 30 grand a month, you’re looking at a seven figure asset. Oh yeah, they sell it.” — Matt Rad (25:06)

• On The Importance of Community:
  “People want real people. Like, they want real experience… learning in a community, I think community is huge now.” — Matt Rad (28:31–30:49)

Timestamps for Key Segments

• [00:03] Earning potential as a side hustle
• [01:10–04:01] Why learn website building; foundations for digital agency work
• [05:50–07:01] Using AI for rapid website building and lead generation
• [08:33–09:29] Derek & Courtney’s story: from burnout to $160K in one year
• [12:50–13:40] Mining worker Josh’s high-earning side hustle
• [20:09–22:11] Jing’s journey: beginner to successful agency with language barriers
• [24:55] Alyssa, 19-year-old, finds a high-earning path outside university
• [25:06–25:48] Valuing and selling a digital agency asset
• [28:27–30:49] Future of e-learning: community and authentic experience

Final Thoughts

Matt Rad and Mirav Ozeri demystify the digital agency side hustle, showing that with the right mindset, anyone can build valuable, recurring income streams—even selling their agency as a seven-figure business down the road. The secret isn’t technical wizardry but empathy, communication, and persistence—plus the willingness to start small and learn by doing. Community, both for clients and for learners, will be the key ingredient as this model (and digital education in general) evolves.

“If you’re listening and you’re interested in something like that, check it out. It’s a very low risk way… of getting into a side hustle.” — Matt Rad (31:04)

For more:

• Matt’s programs: eBusinessInstitute.com (27:58)
• Listen to more case studies via the How Much Can I Make? podcast archive.